Iraq's new government was sworn in yesterday with Sunni Muslim
tribal leader Ghazi al-Yawar as president, but there were no
celebrations as a bloody wave of explosions killed at least three
people in the capital.
The US-installed Governing Council nominated Yawar. His appointment was confirmed by UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, and fills a position vacant since dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in April last year.
A senior official from the US-led coalition said the Governing Council, a body that has been heavily criticised by ordinary Iraqis as unrepresentative, was dissolved with the naming of the incoming government.
"The Governing Council was dissolved this morning. The interim government will take over responsibilities as of today, until sovereignty is fully transferred on June 30," the official said, requesting anonymity.
Yawar's appointment to the largely ceremonial position at the top of the government, which will formally take over after the June 30 transfer of power, followed days of tumultuous talks between the council and the coalition.
In his first press conference alongside Brahimi and prime minister Iyad Allawi, who was named last week and who unveiled his cabinet yesterday, Yawar called for "full sovereignty" to be restored through a new UN resolution.
"We the Iraqis also look forward to being granted full sovereignty through a Security Council resolution to enable us to rebuild a free, independent, democratic and federal, unified homeland," he said.
Ibrahim Jaffari of the Islamic Shiite Dawa party and Roj Nuri Shawis of the Kurdistan Democratic Party were named deputy presidents.
Yawar's nomination broke a tense political deadlock between the US-led occupation authorities and council members who insisted on the portly tribal leader as president despite US backing for another Sunni candidate.
The US-trained engineer emerged the victor after coalition favourite Adnan Pachachi, a senior statesman, declined the post knowing he lacked the Governing Council's backing.
Announcing his cabinet, Allawi hailed what he described as the country's first step towards democracy.
"After 35 years of tyrannical regime ... we are starting now our march towards sovereignty and democracy," he said.
But there was no celebrating on the streets of Baghdad as a series of explosions echoed across the capital immediately after Saddam's replacement was named.
At least three security guards were killed and 20 other people wounded in a car bomb attack outside the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) political party, a guard and US military officer said.
Several other blasts rocked the vicinity of the heavily fortified coalition headquarters.
Iraq's incoming cabinet was parcelled out on ehtnic and party lines as prominent Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite politicians grabbed high-profile posts.
Kurd Barham Saleh, a US-backed moderate, was appointed deputy premier for national security and Hoshyar Zebari kept the foreign ministry.
The government "is filled with competent, honest individuals, diverse and broadly representative of Iraq. There are many, many new faces," a US official said.
"This process that was accomplished is called pluralist politics. It's thrilling. It has never happened here before in millenia."
The interim government will be granted full sovereignty on June 30 and then be tasked with restoring security and leading the country to its first free elections, scheduled for January.
Brahimi confirmed that Pachachi had been offered the presidency "but declined for personal reasons".
An Iraqi official said on condition of anonymity: "Pachachi turned down the post because certain Governing Council members slandered him as the Americans' candidate to damage his candidacy." Most council members had been vocal in their support of Yawar, while the Americans were widely believed to have favoured Pachachi, the scion of an old political family.
"I gathered that certain parties were not satisfied that I should hold the post," Pachachi told a press conference.
He dismissed claims that the Coalition Provisional Authority "wanted to impose me as president".
One Iraqi official said the debate with the Americans had been filled with acrimony which would taint whoever turned out to be president.
"The process was too contentious. The presidency will be undermined," the official said.
The naming of the government will provide some badly needed clarity to talks on a new UN resolution on Iraq which are expected to take place in New York this week. - Sapa-AFP
The US-installed Governing Council nominated Yawar. His appointment was confirmed by UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, and fills a position vacant since dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in April last year.
A senior official from the US-led coalition said the Governing Council, a body that has been heavily criticised by ordinary Iraqis as unrepresentative, was dissolved with the naming of the incoming government.
"The Governing Council was dissolved this morning. The interim government will take over responsibilities as of today, until sovereignty is fully transferred on June 30," the official said, requesting anonymity.
Yawar's appointment to the largely ceremonial position at the top of the government, which will formally take over after the June 30 transfer of power, followed days of tumultuous talks between the council and the coalition.
In his first press conference alongside Brahimi and prime minister Iyad Allawi, who was named last week and who unveiled his cabinet yesterday, Yawar called for "full sovereignty" to be restored through a new UN resolution.
"We the Iraqis also look forward to being granted full sovereignty through a Security Council resolution to enable us to rebuild a free, independent, democratic and federal, unified homeland," he said.
Ibrahim Jaffari of the Islamic Shiite Dawa party and Roj Nuri Shawis of the Kurdistan Democratic Party were named deputy presidents.
Yawar's nomination broke a tense political deadlock between the US-led occupation authorities and council members who insisted on the portly tribal leader as president despite US backing for another Sunni candidate.
The US-trained engineer emerged the victor after coalition favourite Adnan Pachachi, a senior statesman, declined the post knowing he lacked the Governing Council's backing.
Announcing his cabinet, Allawi hailed what he described as the country's first step towards democracy.
"After 35 years of tyrannical regime ... we are starting now our march towards sovereignty and democracy," he said.
But there was no celebrating on the streets of Baghdad as a series of explosions echoed across the capital immediately after Saddam's replacement was named.
At least three security guards were killed and 20 other people wounded in a car bomb attack outside the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) political party, a guard and US military officer said.
Several other blasts rocked the vicinity of the heavily fortified coalition headquarters.
Iraq's incoming cabinet was parcelled out on ehtnic and party lines as prominent Kurdish, Sunni and Shiite politicians grabbed high-profile posts.
Kurd Barham Saleh, a US-backed moderate, was appointed deputy premier for national security and Hoshyar Zebari kept the foreign ministry.
The government "is filled with competent, honest individuals, diverse and broadly representative of Iraq. There are many, many new faces," a US official said.
"This process that was accomplished is called pluralist politics. It's thrilling. It has never happened here before in millenia."
The interim government will be granted full sovereignty on June 30 and then be tasked with restoring security and leading the country to its first free elections, scheduled for January.
Brahimi confirmed that Pachachi had been offered the presidency "but declined for personal reasons".
An Iraqi official said on condition of anonymity: "Pachachi turned down the post because certain Governing Council members slandered him as the Americans' candidate to damage his candidacy." Most council members had been vocal in their support of Yawar, while the Americans were widely believed to have favoured Pachachi, the scion of an old political family.
"I gathered that certain parties were not satisfied that I should hold the post," Pachachi told a press conference.
He dismissed claims that the Coalition Provisional Authority "wanted to impose me as president".
One Iraqi official said the debate with the Americans had been filled with acrimony which would taint whoever turned out to be president.
"The process was too contentious. The presidency will be undermined," the official said.
The naming of the government will provide some badly needed clarity to talks on a new UN resolution on Iraq which are expected to take place in New York this week. - Sapa-AFP
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